A look back at a record-breaking summer.
Not only bathers but also thieves cavort in the Badi am Letten.
A summer evening in the city of Zurich. The temperature is a good 30 degrees, after work you can jump into the cool Limmat. The wallet and a smartphone are in the backpack. What to do with the valuables? Handkerchief over it and into the water. After the swim comes the nasty surprise: the phone is gone, as are the money and cards. Instead of an after-work beer, there is a walk to the police station and an almost endless phone call to banks, insurance companies and various authorities.
It was a similar experience for many people in Zurich this summer. More was stolen from the public swimming pools in Zurich than it has been for a long time, as a request from the Zurich city police shows. By August 1, the police had received 157 reports of theft in the outdoor pools. For comparison: the year before, there were 110 advertisements during the entire bathing season, which lasts until mid-September in most pools.
In order to put a stop to the thieves, the Zurich city police have increased their presence in the outdoor pools. There was increased patrolling on the Letten, like Tele Zurich recently reported. The police officers were both in uniform and in plain clothes.
The prevention department of the Zurich city police was also on duty. The employees tried to draw the attention of bathers to the problem with various campaigns.
The tips from the city police are simple: never leave valuables unattended, but deposit them in a locker. If this is not possible, only trustworthy people should be asked to look after the valuables temporarily. Suspicious behavior should be reported to the police.
The Zurich City Police cannot provide any information on the perpetrators, as no statistics are kept on this. However, a connection with the exceptionally hot and dry summer is obvious.
In August this year, after 130 days of the bathing season and ten weeks before the end of the season, more than two million entries were counted. On the Monday of the boy shooting, there were already 2.2 million. The Mythenquai and Tiefenbrunnen lidos were particularly popular, followed by the Letzigraben outdoor pool.
Next Sunday the bathing season will be over in most outdoor pools. The Auhof and Letzigraben outdoor pools and the Mythenquai and Tiefenbrunnen lidos will remain open for a week longer. Those who are not afraid of lower temperatures can still jump into the water in the Seebach outdoor pool and in the Utoquai seaside resort until October 30th.